Lifeboat fastening means



May 6, 1947. p FULL' 2,420,236

JLIFE BOAT FASTENING MEANS Filed Ngv. 17, 1944v 2 sheets-sheet 1 fa-1EHI@ May 6, 1947. P. FULL LIFE BOAT FASTENING MEANS 2 Sheets-Sheetl 2Filed Nov] 17, 1944 A Ffm@ FZ/LL @AHA/L9 @wl-M2,

@Matar/Matti( Patented May 6, 1,947

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LIFEBOAT FASTENING MEANS Peter Full,Vermillion, Ohio Application November 17, 1944, Serial No. 563,818

3 Claims.

This invention relates to means for mounting and releasably securinglife boats` on the decks of ships.

The primary object of the invention is the provision of a fasteningmeans of the character described, which lis simple and efficient in itsconstruction, is easily operable to engage or release a boat, andcooperates with the support or mounting means for a boat to hold it inrigid relation to the deck.

A further object of ,the invention is the provision of a gunwale clampas well as a keel clamp for a boat, which are interconnected and oper--able in conjunction to simultaneously clamp or .release the gunwale andkeel whereby to securely hold the Iboat against any movement relative tothe deck on which it is mounted.

This .application is Vleol as a continuation in part of my co-pendingapplication Serial No. 518,502, filed January 17, 1944, which becameabandoned June 12, 1946.

The invention is fully described in the following specification, and apreferred embodiment thereof illustrated in the accompanying drawings,in which- Figure 1 is a plan view of a life boat davit mounted on thedeck of a ship fragmentarily shown and including the clamping meansembodying the invention with a boat iirmly held thereby in rigidrelation to the deck, and also showing in dotted lines the boat swungout in lowering position; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of a life boat andthe `mounting and securing means shown in Fig. Vl; Fig. 3 is an enlargedfragmentary section on .the line 3-3 in Fig. 1, with parts broken away;Fig. 4 is a similar View more in sectional detail with the clam-pingmea-ns released from the boat and the boat in slightly spaced Yrelationfrom the support; Fig. 5 is an end View of Fig. 1, showing the manner ofraising and lowering the boat; Fig. 6 is a similar view with the boatcompletely lowered in the water and the carrying hooks of thedavitreleased therefrom; Fig. '7 is .a side view of an end portion of theYdavit and boat as shown in Fig. 5, and Fig. 8 is an end view of a boatlowering arm of the davit with the supporting hook released from theboat in the relative positions shown in Fig. 6.

Referring to the drawings, A designates a, boat deck and B a life boatfor mounting thereon. The davit means shown for raising and lowering theboat with respect to the deck comprises two standards I, I, spacedlengthwise of the deck, and each having a, vertically swinging arm 2associated therewith at its outer or water side and pivoted at its lowerend adjacent to the lower end of the standard, as at 3, whereby the armmay be disposed in upright position as shown in Fig. 5, orswungdownwardly to horizontal position a-s shown in Fig. 6. When the arms 2.are

in a horizontal position, their outer ends project a distance out overthe side edge of thedeck A. The standards I are connected by a shaft 4having an operating crank 5 or suitable turning means at one or bothends of the shaft as may be desired, and also Acarrying a sheave Eadjacent to each standard. A cable I winds -on each sheave 5 and`extends upwardly therefrom over a guide sheave 8 on the upper end ofthe respective standard and thence over a sheave B on the upper or freeend of the .swinging arm 2. The cable at its free end carries a hook I0for engaging in a socket II provided on the boat at each end thereof.The hook Ill has a substantially nat hook portion to adapt it to beeasily engaged in or released `from a socket II, and at the upper `endof its shank is provided with a cross-arm I2 adapted to engage `with thelaterally spaced hook fingers I3 at the 4outer or under side `of thefree end portion of the arm 2, .as hereinaf ter more lfully described.

When it is desired to raise a `boat from the water the arms 2 arelowered `and the hooks I0 engaged with the boat sockets II, after whichthe shaft 4 is turned to eli-ect a winding of the cables l on thesheaves S. When the boat has been raised suciently .for the cross-armsI2 of the hooks to engage the laterally spaced portions `III rat thefree ends of the varms .-2, the arms will be .caused to raise with thehooks as the raising of the boat continues until the arms are in theupright position shown in Fig. 5 with the boat B swung inwardly over theboat deck A in position to be `yclamped thereto. As the arms 2 swingupwardly from their horizontal positions,4 the crossarms of the hooks'I8 'slide inwardly along the surfaces llland i'inally rest in the hooksI 3, as shown 'in Fig.. 5, thus 'providing a rigid support for "thehooks independently of the cables 7 to vhold the boat B in suspendedposition except vfor its engagement with the clamping means, whichlatter constitutes the principal part of the present invention and willnow be described.

Rising from the deck A substantially centrally of the davit standards Iand at the inner side ofthe life boat B is a standard 20 having at itsrear side a part' 2| forming, in the present instance, a hollow housing.The standard 20 is provided at the outer side of its upper end with aboss or thrust head 22 adapted to have interengaging connection with aside plate 23 on the adjacent gunwale portion of the boat A so that whenthe boat is swung over into mounting position on the deck, the parts 22and 23 will interengage to prevent endwise movement of the boat relativeto the standard. In the present instance, the boss 22 has a verticalrecess 24 in its face and the companion plate 23 has a rib 25 on itsface, which latter ts in the recess 24.

A locking hasp 26 of lever form is pivoted between the sides of theupper end portion of the hollow part 2| and has a long arm projectingoutwardly so as to be swung down over the upper end of the standard 20and the adjacent gunwale edge of the boat. The hasp 26 has its free endangled downwardly to engage the inner side of the gunwale when the partsare in assembled locking position and such angled end carries a screwbolt 21 adapted to have its inner end projected into a registeringsocket 28 in the gunwale and thus prevent any accidental disengagementof the hasp therefrom. In the present instance, the angled end of thehasp 26 is provided with a hand wheel 29 which, when rotated on thescrew 21, effects an inward or outward movement thereof.

The inner short arm of the hasp 26 has a link 3U extending downwardtherefrom into the hollow of the part 2l and connected to one arm of abell crank lever 3 l, which is pivoted within said part at the forwardside thereof. The other arm of this lever projects downwardly and has arod 32 projecting forwardly therefrom beneath the boat B and over asupporting roller 33 mounted on a bracket 34 rising from the deck A atthe under side of the boat when in its mounting position. The rod 32 isprovided in advance of the roller 33 with a downwardly and forwardlyinclined cam portion 35 terminating at its outer end in an upwardlyprojecting hook 36. It is thus evident that when the hasp 26 is inraised position the hook 36 will be lowered relative to the roller 33,and that when the hasp is lowered to horizontal or bolt clampingposition its connection with the rod 32 will cause it to be drawnrearward so that the cam 35 will ride up on the roller 33 and cause bothan upward and a rearward movement of the hook 36. As this movement takesplace the hook 36 engages the outer side of the keel 31 and draws suchkeel into clamping coaction with the bracket 34 and at the same time thehooked end of the hasp engages the inner side of the gunwale and firmlyholds the plate 23 in interengaging thrust connection with the boss 22on the standard 20. This clamping engagement of the hasp 26 with the'gunwale and of the hook 36 with the keel of the boat is shown in Fig.3. Should the boat, when suspended from the arms 2 when in their uprightpositions, as shown in Fig. 5, not be in position for its keel to bearagainst the outer side of the bracket 34 but spaced slightly outwardlytherefrom, the hook 36 has sufficient movementl in side engagement withthe keel to draw it over into clamping engagement with the bracket. Itis apparent that a release of the boat B from clamped position to permitit to be swung out over and down from the deck A may be easily andquickly effected by merely releasing the bolt 21 from the gunwale andthen swinging the hasp 26 upward. This disengages its hooked end fromthe gunwale and at the same time moves the hook 36 outward and downwardout of the path of movement of the keel.

I wish it understood that my invention is not limited to any specieconstruction arrangement or form of the parts, as it is capable ofnumerous modifications and changes within the spirit of the claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by United States Letters Patent is:

1. The combination with a boat, of a standard rising at a side of theboat, a thrust part fixed to the gunwale of the boat adjacent to saidstandard, said part and standard having interengaging connection whenone is resting against the other and a hasp carried by one of said partand standard and adapted to have locking engagement with the other tosecure the boat in rigid relation to the standard.

2. The combination with a boat, of a standard separate from and risingat a side of the boat, a plate xed to the gunwale of the boat adjacentto said standard, said plate and standard having interengaging partswhen one is resting against the other to prevent predetermined relativemovements of the boat and standard, and a hasp carried by the standardand adapted to be swung over the plate and gunwale of the boat andhaving a free hook end extending at the inner side of the gunwale, andmeans carried by the hasp for releasable locking engagement with thegunwale to retain the interengaging parts in engagement.

v3. The combination with a boat, of a standard separate from and risingat a side of the boat and having a boss at its top with an edge notchtherein adjacent to the boat gunwale, means forming a part of thegunwale and having a rib for engaging in said notch, and a hasp hingedlyconnected to the boss and operable to engage and releasably hold saidmeans in interengaging connection with the boss.

PETER FULL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record ln the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,631,053 Overman May 31', 19272,199,393 Dahl May '1, 1940 1,275,987 McGowan Aug. 13, 1918 FOREIGNPATENTS Number Country Date 12,429 British 1912

